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In light of the series on Spiritual Disciplines for Real Families, I’m hoping this easy, often printable tools will help weave prayer into the fabric of your family.

If you love this kind of thing, try signing up in the right sidebar for the first chapter of Permanent Markers: Spiritual Life Skills to Write On Your Kids’ Hearts. It’s packed with ideas like this–and connects to more printable resources on this site to help you teach spiritual life skills!

The Prayer of Examen

This printable poster makes it easy for kids to learn to pray through their day with God. (If you’re new to this prayer, don’t let the name intimidate you! Here’s an introduction to this ancient, traditional, contemplative prayer.)

Print it here.Permanent Markers Prayer of Examen

The printable prayer deck.

Make your own deck of prayer prompts to pass out at dinner, after breakfast, or at bedtime; think of it as “prayer roulette.” If you’d like, print this three-page FREE PRINTABLE PRAYER DECK (try paper that’s a bit jazzy on the other side) and laminate  them for longer use.

Print it here.

prayer-card-deck-printable-page-001

My favorite prayer app: Echo.

Echo is a free prayer app—they call it a “prayer manager”—for iPhone and Android devices that helps you pray. It’s kind of like a prayer deck you stock yourself. Organize and keep track of your prayers and be reminded to pray for them. Consider it your own war room…on your iPhone. This helps me to be faithful to love through prayer my friends, family, missionaries, and other causes I believe in.

13 Easy-peasy Breath Prayers.

If you’re not familiar with breath prayers—as this poster mentions, these are prayers you can pray in a single breath, repeating if you like as you inhale and exhale. I love how this communicates to kids the ease and constancy of prayer. (You can even make your own!)

Print these breath prayers.

Permanent Markers Breath Prayers

Printable counter-cultural prayers for America.counter cultural prayers

31 Scriptures to Pray for Your Kids (Every Day of the Month–from Scripture)

(Um, I keep a laminated copy in my bathroom, where I am sure to pray them every day. Overshare?)

Print these here. 

31 prayers for your kids from Scripture Permanent Markers PDF 2-page-001

The Five-finger Prayer Method.

I’m not in love with helping our kids rely on formulaic prayer–and most of these templates work against that grain.

But younger kids are learning the basics of what healthy prayer looks like. (Think of it like you would a relationship with a human: “Talk to your Mom about all these things for a healthy relationship.”

Each finger on their little hands can remind even kids about how Jesus taught us to pray (in Matthew 6:9-13).

Print this here.

Printable prayers for kids in school–and their teachers and administrators.

Print these prayers for kids here.

pray for teachers

Print these prayers for teachers and admin here.

pray for teachers

A printable feelings wheel.

Stay with me here—as we come to God…sometimes a tool like this is helpful to narrow down where we’re at, and how we’re coming to God from our day. It helps us to bring our day to God, rather than pray around the elephant in the room (whether its head is bowed or not). feeling-emotions-wheel

 

Six ways to pray for yourself (and your kids) when you feel like tearing your hair out.

(Yes, that’s a thing.)

Print these here.
how to pray for your kids and yourself when you feel like tearing your hair out-page-001Like this post? You might like